Guy guard



Oct. 9, 1962 Filed July 28, 1961 S. N. SCHLEIN GUY GUARD 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. 8Y-7au2 N. SEA/1.5m

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Oct. 9, 1962 s. N. SCHLEIN 3,057,443

GUY GUARD Filed July 28, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

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United States Patent ()fifice $357,443 Patented Oct. 9, 1962 3,057,443 GUY GUARD Seymour N. Schlein, University Heights, Ohio, assignor to The Fanner Manufacturing Company, a division of Textron, lino, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Rhode Island Filed July 28, 19M, Ser. No. 127,533 3 Qlaims. (Cl. 189-412) This invention relates to improvements in guards for guy wires and in fastening means for securing the guards to guy wires.

As is well known to those versed in the art, telephone poles, poles for light wires and transmission lines are frequently maintained in their desired erect position by the use of guy wires. A guy Wire is secured to the pole at some point spaced from the ground end, usually near the top, and extends outward and downward therefrom and is secured at its lower end to an anchor rod which in turn is anchored to the ground in some manner, such as by the use of a dead man.

The portion of the guy wire for a distance extending from the ground upward to a height of 8 to 10 feet pre sents a potential hazard to persons walking or otherwise traveling along the ground because the guy wire is relatively small and not easily visible unless one is looking for it. In certain cases livestock can become injured from running into it. Heretofore the most common guards have been made of metal and/or wood. Such guards are secured to the guy wire and extend upward along the wire to such a height that they normally protect the wire against the impact of foreign objects as well as the thing that contacts them. Since they are rather large and bulky, they increase the visibility of the guy wire and enable persons to avoid them. Should one run into the wire, the large surface presented by the guard reduces the amount of injury to the person.

The previous wood guards had the disadvantage that they were expensive to make, Were subject to rapid normal deterioration and subject to breakage, both during and after installation. They also had to be painted regularly to protect them against abnormal deterioration.

Metal guards were heavy, difficult to install and, like the wood guards, were subject to deterioration, due to rust. It was also difficult to make them without sharp edges. Furthermore, if either of the guards were struck, the metal ones bent and the wooden ones broke.

By the present invention, I have provided a guy guard which is economical to manufacture. They do not have any sharp edges to injure a person contacting it. They are flexible, and although they will bend, when struck, they immediately return to their normal configuration. They also resist fire. In addition, being of insulation material, they protect the persons from shock hazards and also prevent current leakages. They are also light in weight.

Still other advantages of the invention and the invention itself will become more apparent from the following description of an embodiment thereof which description is illustrated by the accompanying drawings and forms a part of this specification.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a View of a pole and having a guy wire with the guard of my invention attached thereto;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the guy wire and guard;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevational View from the outer side of the guy guard;

FIG. 4 is a similar view from the opposite side, illustrating the clamp means;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are sections taken from the lines 55 and 66 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view looking into the interior, showing it attached by a clamp to an anchor rod having one type of dead end; and

FIG. 8 shows the attachment to another type of dead end.

As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the most common application of the invention is as a guard for a guy wire wherein a pole 10 is set into the ground and carries on its upper end a cross arm 11 which in turn carries wires 12. A guy wire 14 is secured to the pole by a clamp or other device 15 or the guy may have a bight which surrounds the pole and is held against slippage downward by suitable cleats. The ground end of the guy wire is secured to an anchor rod 16 and the guy guard 17 extends from a point closely spaced from the ground along the guy wire approximately 8 feet. It will be appreciated that the guard may be made in various lengths and widths.

As can be seen from FIG. 2, in this particular instance, the guy guard is secured by a clamp at the eye of the anchor rod and by cable strand clamps which are spaced along the guard and secure it to the guy wire. It is contemplated that in use only one lower and one upper clamp may be needed.

The guard is made of a rigid vinyl type plastic having a high impact resistance. It may he of any color but is preferably black or gray. It consists of an elongated channel member of C-shaped cross section and is preferably provided with a pair of longitudinally extending ribs 18 which serve the primary purpose of adding strength and rigidity to the member and also has a pleasing decorative eifect. Each edge of the channel terminates in a longitudinally extending bead 19 which extends along the entire edge. These beads provide rigidity to the edge and also provide a smooth rounded edge, free from any sharp portions.

The guy guard is usually placed around the guy wire with the other side facing away from the guy and pole. It is commonly placed with one end close to the ground and extends upward a sutficient distance to afford adequate protection. It may be clamped at its lower end to the anchor rod or to the portion of the guy wire that is dead ended and at its upper end to the wire itself. To this end it is usually provided with apertures through which the clamp means may be secured. Two types of clamp means are ordinarily provided, one particularly adapted for attachment at the terminal end of the guy wire or anchor rod and the other for engagement with the strands of the guy wires at spaced points along the guard. As previously stated, a number of these clamps may be used.

A first clamp, which is best shown in FIGS. 5 and 8, comprises a rectangular metal plate 25, which is curved in the opposite direction to the transverse curvature of the guard, with the ends extending inside of the edges of the guard. The guard and plate are both apertured in their mid-section and the shank of a bolt 26 extends through the aperture with the head outside the guard and with stem threaded through the plate. Preferably a metal washer 27 is next to the bolt and a deformable plastic washer 28 is disposed between the metal washer and the guard. This provides a resilient mounting which reduces the possibility of breakage due to the presence of the screw head against the guard. Between the guard and the plate 25 and over the shank of the bolt, there is disposed a plastic sleeve 29, of heavy but easily deformable plastic.

This sleeve is of such a length that when the bolt is threaded into the clamp plate it will cause a compression and resultant distortion of the sleeve causing it to deform at its ends as well as the middle and engaging with the bolt shank and with the inner face of the guy guard and the clamp plate. As shown in FIG. 7, the

bolt 26 and sleeve 29 extend through the eye 36' of the dead ended cable and the clamp plate into holding engagement with the eye. The distortion of the sleeve 29 provides a locking action between the parts and prevents the bolt from turning loose in time, due to wire vibration etc.

At other points along the guard, one or more of the other types of clamps may be used, such as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 6, which are particularly designed to en gage with the wire. Each of these clamps is secured in place by a bolt 40' which extends through an aperture in the guy guard to one side of the longitudinal center line of the guard. The head of the bolt is outside the guard and makes contact with the guard with a metal washer next to the head and a plastic washer next to the guard as previously described.

Inside of the guard there is provided a curved base plate 41 which has substantially the same conformation as the inside of the guard. At one end there is an angular extension 41a which extends at substantially right angles to the part 41. This part is provided with a slot 41b, through which a tongue 42a of a clamp member 42 extends. The clamp member 42 includes a rectangular body having an opening through which the bolt extends, the tongue 42a projects from one end of the body. A pair of spaced parallel side flanges 42b extend from the body and are provided with semi-circular notches 420 which engage with the guy wire. A nut threaded on the end of the bolt is provided for tightening the clamp onto the wire.

When the guard is installed on the guy, the nut is loosened and the clamp member is placed over the guy wire with the guy wire being inside of the base plate 41. When the nut is tightened, the clamp element 42 pivots about the tongue 42a in the slot 41a and the side flanges 42!) with the notches 42c are forced down against the wire, clamping the wire between the base plate and the clamp element and at the same time holding the guard in place.

It will thus be seen that the dual clamp means provides a means whereby the guy guard may be attached to a guy wire, the lower clamp providing a means for holding it in a predetermined position and against traveling up and down the wire without undue pressure on the guard which might cause distortion and in such a way that it cannot revolve around the guy wire and thus impair its elfectiveness as a guard. The plastic sleeve enables the clamp to be tightened a predetermined amount and provides a lock which eliminates the need for a lock nut, since the length of the sleeve is such that when properly tightened it distorts and bulges inward and engages the screw. Actually this distortion is such that in time the flow characteristics of the plastic cause it to thicken to engage the screw shank. During installation however, the sleeve is sufliciently loose as to provide no hindrance to the turning of the screw. Although no lock nut is needed, one may be used should it be so desired.

The design also permits attachment to the terminal end of the guy regardless of the particular formation of tha w The other clamp means are such that although they hold the guard securely to the wire the clamping'action is of a resilient nature due to the fact that the base plate extends outward from the bolt and has a certain amount of flexibility. Then should the wire turn or twist, a slippage may occur and the guard will not twist out of shape. In addition, during changes in temperature these clamps may partake of movement along the wire and allow the wire and guard to expand and contract independently of each other with changes in temperature.

The material of the guard is such that if struck it will bend and immediately return to its original conformation without attaining a permanent set or breaking. It has a high dielectric value and therefore cannot serve as a leakage path between the guy and the anchor rod or guard. It is impervious to moisture and will not rot, splinter or corrode. It is light in weight, easy to install and may be stored indefinitely without deterioration. It also resists combustion and is not likely to burn in instances where the pole is struck by lightning. It has no sharp edges which can cut or scratch. Its design is such that it is very attractive and requires no painting.

Having thus described the invention in an embodiment thereof, I am aware that numerous and extensive departures may be made therefrom without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A guy guard comprising an elongated C-shaped menu ber arranged to secure and surround the guy wire, clamp means for holding said guard to the wire comprising a C-shaped plate arranged to lay within the marginal edges of the guard, a screw extending through the guard and threaded through said plate, distortable sleeve means dis posed over the shank of the screw between the guard and plate.

2. A device as described in claim 1, wherein said sleeve is a plastic material which may be distorted longitudinally and has cold flow characteristics to cause it to thicken and engage and hold the screw.

3. A guy guard comprising an elongated C-shaped chan nel member of high impact pliable plastic arranged to surround a guy wire, means to attach said guy guard to the wire comprising a plate shaped to conform to the interior of the guard and having a portion at one end extending at substantially right angles thereto, a slot formed in said end portion, a keeper member having a tongue loosely disposed in said slot and having a channel shaped body extending from said tongue opposit to said plate, the edges of said channel member being formed with wire engaging notches, a bolt extending through the guy guard, plate and clamp members and means for engagement with the clamp member to move said member toward the plate to clamp the guy Wire.

References @ited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

